Brutal blog coming around 11AM Central.
- John Jaeckel

*Gets popcorn ready*

Sure bad goals kill a team on any level of hockey.

But when you have a 2-0 lead on a young team and decide its a game of run and gun shinny and defence doesn't matter to anybody, crap like this happens. Especially when a sieve is in goal for the evening.

But the thing that irritated me the most was Renney was putting Gagner's line out there every second shift at the end and nobody laid a hand on the kid. They were willing to tolerate being embarassed and humiliated. All 20 guys and the 3 coaches. Very, very bad sign.
- RickJ

I will have a lot more to say in a bit....But no redeeming value unless it is a reality check for those that can fix that things...

Renney...I left that alone...Q had his "muscle"guys out there but they were no match...If the game was five mins longer the Oil would ahve got to 10.

*Gets popcorn ready*
- pri$ey

Mine should be up within an hour...might want to start a Kool Aid drip now....

Really amazing that a team with one of the best cores in the NHL can't seem to build a team around them. The roster is so off balance its frightening.
- golfbard

This is a great point. If the game is a track meet the Hawks have a good chance to win. If the game requires the Hawks to win board battles and one on one battles the advantage goes to the oppositon. Toews and Hossa can play any style. Kane dissappears when the other team takes away his space to create by putting a body on him. As the season gets closer to playoff time the games are only going to get tighter and unless Bowman can pick up some help it will be difficult for the Hawks to go deep into the playoffs.

Rick, Rick, Rick, Now you've gone and done IT!!!!! The dreaded "this team would be better off with the likes of #51 than #88.....Your flogging for daring to INSULT the GREAT #88 will begin.....................NOW!
- PuckkmeNOpuckU

I'll go one step further in the B.S. argument about needing to dump Campbell's contract.

If Dale Tallon was honest in answering the question, he would tell anybody that Brian Campbell is a far more intelligent and much better hockey player than Duncan Keith.

Campbell was Chicago's #1 defenceman. That's difficult to replace.

I get what your saying but it's kind of similar to Ottawa isn't it? Maclean has got the Sens playing well this season but Clouston couldn't do that.

Wasn't there a lot of talk that Clouston lost the team and they weren't responding to him?
- pri$ey

Well, I hope Q isn't as bad as Clouston was. Actual strategy and x and O coaching aside, Clouston made life miserable for everyone (including the refs) but even as bad as it was for the players, I don't remember them allowing one of the worst teams in the NHL smack them in the face like that, and those Sens teams didnt have near the talent on the roster.

I see what you are saying though, as an overview of things. I was looking strictly at it from an in game experience but if Q makes life miserable for them, I could see them being disheartened like our team was. Hell, there was talk that it was so bad Alfie was going to retire... until Maclean came along. Thats how you know its bad, when it sucked the will of your star player to even play the game anymore.

I agree with you but if the players are not responding to the coach..

Q also said after the game that he didn't think any trades are needed, that this team went on a roll with you they currently have, they just need to get back to that.. yah.. ok coach..

You'll never hear me complain about Gagner being out there on the ice then.. He deserved everything that night.
- pri$ey

I picked up about Q's comments in my piece....If Q.really believes that he isn't doing his job.

Mine should be up within an hour...might want to start a Kool Aid drip now....
- Al

LOL

I was thinking earlier this morning what would happen if this team lost the rest of the games on this trip..

It's terrible to admit but a small part of me would like to see it just to see people explode here.

Well, you have your cap room and Bowman is STILL signing/trading for other people's scraps.
- SteveRain

Thank you Steve and Rick! Exactly my points from earlier...

Hawks w Campbell's $7.1M > Hawks w Montador, SOD, Lepisto, Olesz ($7.5M combined)...

Cap Space means NOTHING when you cannot get the adequate player(s) to fill it with.

I will have a lot more to say in a bit....But no redeeming value unless it is a reality check for those that can fix that things...

Renney...I left that alone...Q had his "muscle"guys out there but they were no match...If the game was five mins longer the Oil would ahve got to 10.
- Al

what muscle guys AL? would ANY of them fill that role on any other team in the league??
hopefully some emotion will start to be shown from the very top on down and i don't mean in the form of more emotion by players in TV commercials & PR appearances! by the way , how many wings are in TV ad's up north?
not a 1 ! they concentrate 100% on hockey! not chevy,meier's, or the eric & kathy radio show ect!!

I get what your saying but it's kind of similar to Ottawa isn't it? Maclean has got the Sens playing well this season but Clouston couldn't do that.

Wasn't there a lot of talk that Clouston lost the team and they weren't responding to him?
- pri$ey

I really do think Q has lost the team.

Did you watch the game?

They lost 3 - 0 and put up 47 shots on goal and over 20 of those were in the first period.

That was a win by Cam Ward.
- HawkFan27

False, they were outworked in their own zone and allowed Carolina to have their way with them.

47 shots is meaningless when they are in the goalies crest and less than a high percentage opportunity.

I'll go one step further in the B.S. argument about needing to dump Campbell's contract.

If Dale Tallon was honest in answering the question, he would tell anybody that Brian Campbell is a far more intelligent and much better hockey player than Duncan Keith.

Campbell was Chicago's #1 defenceman. That's difficult to replace.
- RickJ

+1

See my comments from this morning.

Keith's average salary is $7.8M over next 5 years. Cap hit is $5.5M only because he is getting charity money in the last 3 years of his contract.

LOL

I was thinking earlier this morning what would happen if this team lost the rest of the games on this trip..

It's terrible to admit but a small part of me would like to see it just to see people explode here.
- pri$ey

It would be like a Frankenstein movie where the townspeople (Hawk fans) would be storming the castle (1901 west Madison) with pitchforks and torches.

Let's face it folks, Nick Leddy is nothing if not suspect in his own end. The Whitney goal (where he did not even think about attempting to clear a screening forward) and on goal #6, where he failed to step up on on Gagner were just brutal to watch. I won't say these goals were entirely his fault, but he contributed heavily. - I'm sure I'll get a point for point breakdown form Savvy about how these goals weren't his fault, but please save it.
- FredoXV

No Fredo, there is no reason to do that, whether he was at fault or not on GA while out there really doesn't matter at this point. If anyone thinks a 20 yr old D in his 1st full yr is going to stop the careening clown car driven by Q that is otherwise known as the Chicago Blackhawks professional hockey team, they are truly nuts.

And I am, if nothing else, NOT nuts.

We could dissect the play of 2 & 7 as well and see those guys looked equally silly.

Others have said it quite well and I have been in agreement with Ogie's Tick Tock on Q. We need a different guy at the helm. Someone who can take whatever the GM gives him and make something good out of it. Instead, we have this hardheaded mofo that faces the press last night and doesn't appear to be fazed in the least. That's where things start.

We don't have the 2010 Stanley Cup club that can stick check their way to a win and impose their will on another team. What we DO have, though, are some of the very best players in the NHL.

If anyone thinks for a moment that a club with Hossa, Toews, Kane, Sharp, Keith and Seabrook should/could get their collective a$$es kicked TWICE by a team -- well, I can tell you that Eddie Munster (aka Barrry Trotts) or Hitch or Dan Bylsma's with these same players would not be playing like this.

As long a Q is running the show, things won't change. It's why he wore out his welcome mat in St Louis and Colorado. I'm beyond TICK TOCK with him and the entire staff . . . can't wait to see what's in store for tonight.

Thank you Steve and Rick! Exactly my points from earlier...

Hawks w Campbell's $7.1M > Hawks w Montador, SOD, Lepisto, Olesz ($7.5M combined)...

Cap Space means NOTHING when you cannot get the adequate player(s) to fill it with
- Nerko77

I'm on the fence on Bowman right now. I agree with your statement but what is he supposed to do?

He can't snap his fingers and make other GM's accept trade offers..

IMO, a lot of the same people who are beggin him to do something will be the same people saying he was stupid to overpay in a trade.. Because to pull a serious trade off right now, he's going to have to overpay..

LOL

I was thinking earlier this morning what would happen if this team lost the rest of the games on this trip..

It's terrible to admit but a small part of me would like to see it just to see people explode here.
- pri$ey

I bet you would....

They won't lose every game on the trip, but a horrendous trip is on it's way. I'll be shocked if they win tonight. Why? because I saw all I needed back in November. It's the same show again....but see...I'm not insane. I don't expect a different outcome....The idiot upstairs calling his daddy does.....

I really do think Q has lost the team.
- EKolb13

It's not Q... It's the players losing each other's trust... Too many $5M+ guys on the roster... A major shake-up is necessary...

Replacing Q will not chnage anything for this team.

I really do think Q has lost the team.
- EKolb13

And therin lies the biggest problem IMO.

Ken Hitchcock is doing the job Davis Payne couldn't with basically the same Blues team..

Sometimes the anser is the coach.

We've all played competitive sports before, and have probably had a loss similar to the one the hawks had last night. When somebody is kicking your face in like that and having one heck of a time doing it, don't you think that would motivate you to play harder, even if its dirtier or how you normally wouldn't play. I am just still lost for words on how a team could just sit there and take a wayne gretzky like pounding from sam gagner, yes sam f'ing gagner................pretty sure Q lost this team. PATHETIC

Well, you have your cap room and Bowman is STILL signing/trading for other people's scraps.
- SteveRain

Exactly. 7.2 mil spent on a certifiable top 2 D playing as your 3rd D (nice luxury, nice depth) is a whole (frank) of a lot better than spending it on a bunch of spare parts.

It reminds me of all of these trade scenarios people come up with for premier players... Cory Perry for 3 marginal to good players and a solid pick or prospect... right. When the game is on the line I want Perry on the ice, no one else, so why trade? 1 dollar isn't worth three shiny quatres.

And there were options... anyone who thinks that Campbell HAD to be moved without question was not thinking outside the box, or if they were weren't prepared to make tough decisions.

I'd rather have a GM like Holmgren or Burke (don't crucify me, I don't like the Kessle deal) who can make the ballsy decisions... because trading Campbell was the easy way out.

No Fredo, there is no reason to do that, whether he was at fault or not on GA while out there really doesn't matter at this point. If anyone thinks a 20 yr old D in his 1st full yr is going to stop the careening clown car driven by Q that is otherwise known as the Chicago Blackhawks professional hockey team, they are truly nuts.

And I am, if nothing else, NOT nuts.

We could dissect the play of 2 & 7 as well and see those guys looked equally silly.

Others have said it quite well and I have been in agreement with Ogie's Tick Tock on Q. We need a different guy at the helm. Someone who can take whatever the GM gives him and make something good out of it. Instead, we have this hardheaded mofo that faces the press last night and doesn't appear to be fazed in the least. That's where things start.

We don't have the 2010 Stanley Cup club that can stick check their way to a win and impose their will on another team. What we DO have, though, are some of the very best players in the NHL.

If anyone thinks for a moment that a club with Hossa, Toews, Kane, Sharp, Keith and Seabrook should/could get their collective a$$es kicked TWICE by a team -- well, I can tell you that Eddie Munster (aka Barrry Trotts) or Hitch or Dan Bylsma's with these same players would not be playing like this.

As long a Q is running the show, things won't change. It's why he wore out his welcome mat in St Louis and Colorado. I'm beyond TICK TOCK with him and the entire staff . . . can't wait to see what's in store for tonight.
- savvyone-1

It's going to be bad...I'm thinking 4 to 1 or 5 to 1. Flames will beat them every way possible.

But hey, Stan is going on the radio at 2:05 to tell us all how much he's trying, etc.....Spin control is in full effect.

[quote=Nerko77]Thank you Steve and Rick! Exactly my points from earlier...

Hawks w Campbell's $7.1M > Hawks w Montador, SOD, Lepisto, Olesz ($7.5M combined)...

Cap Space means NOTHING when you cannot get the adequate player(s) to fill it with.
- pri$ey[/quote]

I'm on the fence on Bowman right now. I agree with your statement but what is he supposed to do?

He can't snap his fingers and make other GM's accept trade offers..

IMO, a lot of the same people who are beggin him to do something will be the same people saying he was stupid to overpay in a trade.. Because to pull a serious trade off right now, he's going to have to overpay..

True. But, he had the time and money in the offseason. His plan did not work. WHo is to blame? It looks like it's Q according some posters here...

+1

See my comments from this morning.

Keith's average salary is $7.8M over next 5 years. Cap hit is $5.5M only because he is getting charity money in the last 3 years of his contract.
- Nerko77

I understand what you're saying, but cap hit is the only thing that matters. It makes exactly 0 difference what the actual salary is. The sum total of the team's ollective cap hits it what determines the makup of the team. Cap hits are what prevent the team fom adding more pieces if they're too high..theoretically.